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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Horse slaughter could be banned in Canada

The U.S. essentially stopped domestic horse slaughtering in 2007 by prohibiting federal funds from going to inspection of horse slaughterhouses, and now "there is a movement to bring the ban to Canada," Liz Twan, a rancher and columnist, writes for the Williams Lake Tribune in British Columbia.

A bill in the House of Commons would ban horse slaughter for human consumption in Canada. Twan warns "there should be grave concern at the thought of the Canadian government blindly galloping into the same box canyon as the U.S. regarding horse slaughter," noting the uptick in abandoned horses in the U.S. In the face of mounting horse neglect, many horse lovers in the U.S. are advocating a re-opening of domestic slaughter facilities, she notes.

While consumption of horse meat may sound alien to Americans and Canadians, the world consumes about a million tons per year, Twan notes. "Worldwide there are many meat dishes that you’d not be able to force the average Canadian to eat, knowing beforehand what animal was killed to make it," she writes, citing Mark Schatzker of The Globe and Mail in Toronto's key facts about horses: "They're cute. They're edible. You probably haven't eaten any lately because of No. 1."

Twan concludes, "We may love our horses with all of our hearts and souls, but trying to keep them all forever might not necessarily be the kindest, most humane option." (Twan's original column said the U.S. has banned horse slaughterhouses, but she clarified that in a subsequent column.)

3 comments:

American push to make horse slaughter history has led to conclusion, as printed in New York Times, that only Reason, Money and Marches to mail petitions will stop the cycle.4% Fair Tax Averages on America’s 9.2 Million Horses Replaces Horse Slaughter with Logic and Value

My opinion is that horse is a companion animal, that horses deserve a special status like cats and dogs. However, Canadian horse meat production is suprisingly high therefore there might be some arguments from the economic point of view.

Speaking as a Canadian who is against horse slaughter, I have to say I can't wait until the day the plants are shut down.

There are facts and statistics that the pro-slaughter proponent doesn't want you to see; such as the fact that MORE horses were slaughtered after the plants shut down in the US, so therefore the closures did NOT affect the abuse and neglect numbers.

Some issues that have impacted horses in general are racetrack closures, the high cost of hay, the decreased *profitability* of selling excess horses to slaughter, the economy, and/or all of these reasons and more.

Horses ARE mainly companion animals, aside from those bred for sport. Yes they cost considerably more than a dog or cat to care for - but there are 3-4 MILLION dogs PTS every year in the US. What if some other country that feels dog meat is yummy wanted to set up shop here in North America, and slaughter our dogs and send the meat overseas for consumption? I suspect people would be a bit up in arms on that issue...

There is a lot of information out there, and I have tried to sift through and find the truth... feel free to visit my site for more information: http://notabreed.wordpress.com/horse-slaughter-articles/

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